Lesson 2

Question 1

What is atmospheric water?

Answer 1

water found in the atmosphere, mainly water vapour with some liquid water (clouds, rain droplets, ice crystals)- existing in all three states

Question 2

Why is water vapour important?

Answer 2

It absorbs reflects and scatters solar radiation, keeping the atmosphere at a temperature that can maintain life

Question 3

What does the amount of water vapour in the air depend on?

Answer 3

temperatures- cold air cannot hold as much so air over the poles is drier than humid tropics

Question 4

What does small increases in water vapour cause?

Answer 4

an increase in atmospheric temperatures (positive feedback)- a small increase in global temp= rise in global water vapour levels-> increasing atmospheric warming

Question 5

What are clouds?

Answer 5

Clouds are ice crystals suspended in the atmosphere as a result of air in lower layers of the atmosphere being saturated d2 the cooling of air or increase in water vapour-> when clouds droplets join, rain forms

Question 6

What is cryospheric water?

Answer 6

water locked in earth’s surface as ice, in 5 locations- sea ice, ice sheets, ice caps, alpine glaciers, and permafrost

Question 7

What is sea ice?

Answer 7

sea ice forms when water in the oceans cool below freezing, and does not rise sea level (already formed by ocean water)
- form of ice shelves and bergs

Question 8

What are ice shelves?

Answer 8

ice shelves= platforms of ice that form where ice sheets and glaciers move out into oceans e.g. greenland ice sheets

Question 9

what are ice bergs?

Answer 9

ice bergs are chunks of ice that break off of glaciers and ice shelves, drift into oceans and DO raise sea level when they first leave land and push off into water

Question 10

what are ice sheets

Answer 10

glacial land extending more than 50,00km2 e.g. the Antarctic ice sheet
-> form where snow falls in winter but doesn’t fully melt, ice grows thicker- constantly in motion, move through ice streams near the coast

Question 11

What are ice caps?

Answer 11

thick layers of ice on land, smaller than 50,000km2, found in mountainous areas, flow out from highest upland area, major source for many glaciers

Question 12

what are alpine glaciers?

Answer 12

thick masses of ice found in deep valleys or upland hollows, fed by ice caps/small corrie glaciers, support rivers such as the Ganges

Question 13

what is permafrost?

Answer 13

soil/rock that remains at/ below 0 degrees for atleast 2 years (most formed during glacial periods BUT have melted d2 climate change)-> releasing CO2+methane, thickness varies from 1m to 1500m

Question 14

what is terrestrial water?

Answer 14

terrestrial water is made up of surface water, ground water, soil water and biological water

Question 15

what is surface water?

Answer 15

surface water is free flowing water in rivers, ponds and lakes e.g. largest lake= Caspian sea

Question 16

what are wetlands?

Answer 16

e.g. of Surface water- areas of static/flowing water where there is a dominance in vegetation
+ help us recover from disasters (stores rain like a sponge, buffering us from the sea-> protects from tsuanmis, floods etc)
+reduce air temp up to 10 degrees

Question 17

what is ground water?

Answer 17

groundwater collects underground in the pore spaces of a rock, recharged from and flows to the surface BUT amount of ground water is dramatically decreasing d2 extensive extraction used for irrigation in dry lands

Question 18

what is soil water?

Answer 18

soil water is located in unsaturated upper wetland layers of earth, fundamental to hydrological, biological, and biogeochemical processes-> affecting weather and climate, run off, soil erosion etc
- soil moisture is a key variable in controlling the exchange of water and heat energy through evaporation and plant transpiration

Question 19

what is biological water?

Answer 19

biological water is water stored in all biomass, varies widely depending on vegetation cover and type

Question 20

what is oceanic water?

Answer 20

97% of water is oceanic water, not including inland seas e.g. Caspian sea
- Oceans cover 72% of the earth’s surface, 5% of oceans have been explored
PH of oceans is falling (linked to increasing carbon in the atmosphere)